The present invention relates to a method of monitoring and controlling the winding process in the production of a bobbin at a winding station in a textile winding machine wherein the bobbin is peripherally driven by a driven friction roller. Further, the present invention relates to apparatus for performing the aforementioned monitoring and control method at the winding station of the winding machine, wherein each of the bobbin and friction roller is provided with an associated pulse generator adapted to emit at least one pulse per revolution of the bobbin and friction roller, respectively, and to supply such pulses to an operatively connected electronic calculator or computer for carrying out the aforesaid method.
Winding stations having a friction drive roller are found in conventional textile winding equipment, for example cross bobbin winders and automatic cross bobbin winders, wherein a traveling yarn unwound from a cop or another bobbin is transferred in a cross-wound fashion to a new bobbin. In this equipment, the friction roller often is a grooved yarn guide drum adapted to guide the traveling yarn in a back and forth traverse along the cross-wound bobbin druing the course of the winding process in order to wind the yarn in a cross-wound manner.
Alternatively, instead of utilizing a grooved yarn guide drum for performing the dual functions of yarn traversing and serving as a friction drive roller, it is also known to utilize a separate yarn guide for guiding the yarn in a back and forth traverse along the cross-wound bobbin, with the friction roller accordingly having no yarn guide grooves.
Such winding stations, sometimes referred to as winding heads, are also present in other textile machines, for example, in open-end rotor spinning machines, friction spinning machines, or air spinning machines, in conjunction with their spinning positions in order to make possible the winding of cross-wound bobbins. In such embodiments, the particular spinning position or spinning unit at the spinning work position may be considered a yarn supply comparable to the cop or delivery bobbin in the afore-described cross bobbin winders.
In conventional textile machines of these types, monitoring components are associated with the winding stations to monitor pertinent aspects of the winding process and machine functions and, in some cases, to also function under appropriate circumstances to stop the operation of the winding station. For example, such monitoring components may be stop motions, slub catchers, or other suitable yarn monitoring devices adapted to detect the occurrence of a yarn breakage or other yarn defect or error, to thereupon stop the operation of the winding station, and to actuate an appropriate specialized device for correcting the breakage or error. Another monitoring component or sensor can be adapted to monitor the cumulative length of yarn wound onto the cross-wound bobbin and to actuate stoppage of the winding station when a predetermined yarn length has been reached. The winding station may also be stopped when a pre-set bobbin diameter or weight is reached.
Other monitoring components are used, for example, to prevent the occurrence of so-called "constant pattern windings" by activating and de-activating a so-called anti-patterning device. Still other monitoring devices are utilized to recognize occurrence of yarn windings or wrappings about the friction roller, often called drum windings. Such drum windings may be caused by the occurrence of a yarn breakage at a location along the course of yarn travel at the nip between the friction roller and the bobbin whereupon the broken yarn end may be carried by the friction roller instead of the bobbin and thereby wound onto the roller.
As will be understood, corresponding data detection devices are required for these various monitoring functions carried out at textile winding stations, as well as specialized data processing equipment to indicate appropriate measured values and to control de-activation or switching of steps in the winding process upon certain predetermined occurrences. Disadvantageously, however, a number of various sensors, data detection devices, data processing devices, indicator devices, control devices and the like are required for monitoring and controlling the winding process in accordance with the foregoing.